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Hufana leads Na Alii girls to win at 1st in-person MIL air riflery meet

By Dakota Grossman 6 min read

WAILUKU -- In her green knitted lucky hat gently tied under her chin, Alia-Marie Hufana smiled after hearing she had the highest score of the day during the first in-person Maui Interscholastic League air riflery match of the season.

After a postal meet last week, Hufana shot an 89 prone, 83 standing and 88 kneeling on Saturday for a combined score 260 at the Baldwin High School JROTC armory. She also led the King Kekaulike girls to the top team score of 975.

"It's my specialty hat," said Hufana, a senior at Hawaii Technology Academy who competes for Na Alii. "Usually, I would wear this if I was shooting, but we can't wear hats, so I don't, but I would if I could."

After moving from Oahu during her sophomore year and attending a school with no athletics program, Hufana has appreciated being able to participate in the MIL, where she gets the opportunity to be on a team and be trained by coach Torrey Ho-Ching, who's also her mom.

"It's so fun, I love it. It's great," Hufana said. "Everyone is great."

With an MIL crown, state championship and 4.0 grade-point average on her wish list for her last year of high school, Hufana knows what techniques she needs to work on moving forward.

"I definitely want to work on my standing and bring it back to the high 80s and 90s, which I have done before, I just need to do it again," she said. "I'm looking forward to being number one, I wish to be number one, but I think it's going to be a good season for everyone. There are a lot of strong competitors this year, so it's going to be a struggle, but I like competition."

Baldwin's Connor Tumaneng had the top boys score Saturday -- sixth overall -- with a 244, shooting 91 prone, 70 standing and 83 kneeling.

"I know I could do better," Tumaneng said.

Still, the Bears sophomore says he enjoys the sport and got into it after his older brother "encouraged me to do it."

Tumaneng wants to qualify for the state championships on Oct. 25 on Oahu, he added, which will take "practicing hard and being humble."

Finishing second overall was Kamehameha Maui's Ava Takahama, who shot a 252 that included 78 standing, 81 kneeling and 93 prone -- the highest prone score of the day at Baldwin's outdoor range.

"I was surprised," Takahama said. "I'm not used to shooting in hot weather, we have a closed building at our school, so I didn't think I was doing too well, but I guess I did OK."

After a few retirements, the Warriors brought on board Ira Uradomo and David Takahama as the new coaches this season.

"We've been working a lot on standing because that's the hardest position, and our coach has been really good at making sure we're working on it," said Kamehameha senior Jordan Holokai-Jacinto, who shot a 247 (81 prone, 82 standing, 84 kneeling) for third place. "For me personally, I just need to practice how I've been practicing and hopefully there will be progress, but I'm super happy with how ... our new coach has been introducing, like, new techniques to us and details that could help us out, and a lot of the shooters have been improving a lot."

The Maui High girls placed second overall in the team standings behind Na Alii with 970 points, followed by Kamehameha (951).

The Warriors led the boys division with 932 points, followed by the Sabers (837) and Bears (837).

Only five points separated the King Kekaulike and Maui High girls on Saturday, and the Sabers' top shooters Dylan Arisumi and Kaytin Bayez said the key to success will be to work together as a team and listen to their coaches.

"When we're in unison, we all shoot good at the same time, and when one person shoots bad, we're all going to be bad," said Bayez, who shot 245. "So, to try and get more connected to each other, we meet up after practice sometimes and do things you'd usually do with friends, like the mall or play games, and it gets us closer, so we have the same energy."

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

*****

MIL Air Riflery Meet No. 2

Saturday's Results

At Baldwin

Prone-standing-kneeling--Total

NOTE: Top individual scorers in BOLD

1. King Kekaulike 349-289-337--975: Alia-Marie Hufana 89-83-88--260, Tatum Astilla 87-72-80--239, Lilinoe Quitazol 83-72-84--239, Krystel Valoroso 90-62-85--237, Kapualiliaoelena Rodrigues 83-50-75--208, Kuleana Regidor 73-53-68--194, Pasha Akina 60-47-62--169.

2. Maui High Girls 354-290-330--970: Dylan Arisumi 94-71-82--247, Kaytin Bayez 90-73-82--245, Lainie Inda 87-73-83--243, Lia Kagehiro 83-69-83--235, Kamaile Talamai 83-73-74--230, Chloe Hokoana 76-52-81--209.

3. Kamehameha Maui 358-291-317--951: Ava Takahama 93-78-81--252, Jordan Holokai-Jacinto 81-82-84--247, Nicki Silva 95-64-78--237, Charlene Viera 86-67-62--215, Cami Nakagawa 82-64-65--211, Keli'a Kang 81-54-74--209, Faith Ribao-Cravalho 79-63-65--207, Hailey Symonds 84-64-52--200, Ella Weber 79-55-60--194, Melina Espino 78-40-74--192.

4. Baldwin 358-273-323--934: Kirsten Schmitt 90-68-84--242, Danay Contreras 90-64-84--238, Skylar Watanabe 81-74-75--230, Maria Andrade 88-57-79--224, Kaylee Miyamoto 82-67-75--224, Deena Sasai 84-61-75--220, Poerava Espaniola Brewster 90-45-76--211, Caroline Yacakalou 79-58-72--209, Rianna Ribucan 77-56-72--205, Kealohi Nonaka 80-58-59--197.

5. Seabury Hall 330-265-306--870: Agustina Hunziker 75-68-84--227, Kayce Migita 82-59-78--219, Skylar Kuroda 89-54-69--212, Bridget Ng 75-63-74--212, Rosalie Peck 76-70-61--207, Tulip Hori 79-56-66--201, Gianna Cabanting 75-61-60--196, Alana Jonick 78-43-70--191, Annalise Claybaugh 79-64-46--189, Molly Thompson 80-36-65--181.

Boys

1. Kamehameha Maui 357-270-320--932: Brandon Sado 91-68-79--238, Luc Sheehan 92-61-84--237, Bennett Takahama 88-68-78--234, Tyler Cambra 86-58-79--223, Ezekiel Kamalani 76-73-71--220, Keanu Tabaco 83-58-78--219, Noah Arcas 84-50-69--203, Chaysen Tanaka 79-53-70--202, Logan Lung 67-48-75--190, Kamahoi Manaois 59-34-50--143.

2. Maui High 329-222-286--837: Aaron Inda 86-66-75--227, Liko Gaspar 86-53-74--213, Andy Oviedo 74-62-74--210, Evan Bailey 83-41-63--187.

3. Baldwin 328-235-296--835: Connor Tumaneng 91-70-83--244, Joseph Andrade 68-62-73--203, Evan Goodness 78-50-71--199, Ezekiel Esperanza 83-37-69--189, Dawson Galam 67-53-68--188, Joey Fernandez 73-45-62--180, Tyton Takahashi 76-35-49--160, Namaka Vanderpoel 74-34-51--159, Tehzion Cordero 72-28-38--138, Michael Barragan 37-49-21--107.

4. Seabury Hall 311-242-298--831: Brandon Yu 81-70-83--234, Turner Alston 79-57-72--208, Kekai Apana 74-48-77--199, Jack Stewart 77-47-66--190, John Kaahui 65-55-62--182, Weston Otterson 58-60-56--174, Jacob Robello 61-38-56--155, Makani Deponte 68-34-45--147, Henry Devereux 54-47-35--136, Kekoa Alderman 42-14-47--103.

5. King Kekaulike 277-176-203--652: Jackson Barcus 80-50-62--192, Josiah Medeiros 63-40-61--164, Kash Decoite 75-50-35--160, Jordan Purdy 58-36-42--136, Benjamin Loo 59-36-28--123, Kade Shimada 35-15-38--88, Chaysen Ampong 3-(-11)-16--8.

6. Lahainaluna 223-169-140--532: Christopher Mueller 80-71-79--230, Kekoa Mueller 75-50-29--154, David Jackson 68-48-32--148.

7. Hana 58-40-51--149: Fa'a Moeai 58-40-51--149.

Starting at /week.